Hybrid ITO transparent conductive electrodes embedded with Pt nanoclusters for enhanced output efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes

Hybrid ITO transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) embedded with Pt nanoclusters were investigated for the fabrication of reliable and efficient GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Hybrid ITO TCEs fabricated by combining interfacial Pt nanoclusters with a coverage ratio of 23.7% (acting as an Ohmic patch) and a 100-nm thick sputtered ITO film yielded a low specific contact resistance of ~ 1.3 × 10− 2 Ω cm2, a sheet resistance of 24 Ω/sq, and a high optical transmittance of 90% at 450 nm. LEDs fabricated with the hybrid ITO TCEs showed a 17.2% brighter light output power compared to reference LEDs. This indicates that the high-quality sputtered ITO film can be practically used in LED applications by embedding Pt nanoclusters.